In the November-January 2013 period, SAS Group narrowed its net loss to 630 million kronor (€76 million) from 2.5 billion kronor a year earlier. Revenue rose 6.3% to 9.6 billion kronor from 9.3 billion kronor, while overall traffic grew 4.3%.
"SAS is continuing to deliver, step by step, in accordance with the restructuring plan that was presented in November of last year,” says Rickard Gustafson, President and CEO. “Behind this progress lies one of the most extensive restructuring plans in the Scandinavian business sector - under an agreement with our employees, SAS expects to reduce its outstanding pension obligations by about SEK 19 billion, which substantially reduces its financial risk.”
During the period SAS presented a letter of intent with Swissport concerning the Ground Handling operations and entered into a sale and leaseback agreement regarding reserve engines with a liquidity effect of about MSEK 700. Market-based collective agreements have reduced the airline group’s direct expenses with unit cost, excluding jet fuel, declining by 2.7% during the quarter, and in January, when the effects of the new collective agreements started to be felt, the unit cost, excluding jet fuel, declined 6.9%.
Gustafson said that the airline remains “focused on completing the action plan and our aim to achieve a positive income before tax for the full-year remains firmly in place".
SAS airline slashes losses
